PAUL CHARLES Director of Communications
Welcome to the Base, Virgin Atlantic’s very own training facility for its four and a half thousand cabin crew. This is where everybody comes, new starters and old timers who are the best in the air. They come here to be trained in how to offer the best customer service, how to serve on board, even the big boss, Sir Richard Branson, has been here to open the Base training facility.
And this is where they filmed part of the new James Bond film, QUANTUM OF SOLACE
CAPTION: QUANTUM OF SOLACE Behind The Scenes At Virgin Atlantic
CALLUM MCDOUGAL Executive Producer
We were shooting CASINO ROYALE in PRAGUE in 2006 and we needed to create Miami in Prague and we approached Richard Branson at Virgin who very kindly donated a huge brand new Airbus. That really started a global relationship that we’ve now continued into Bond 22.
PAUL CHARLES Director of Communications
Virgin Atlantic and Bond are great natural partners, the brands are very similar, it’s all about innovation, speed and in essence pushing forward to new boundaries and I think that’s what we’re about with our customer service, we always want to make sure we offer the best and I think the Bond movies have always offered something very different which shows other films how to do it.
The Bond team have moved in for the weekend and they don’t just bring the actors and actresses with them but also huge amounts of equipment, microphone equipment, lighting, camera, huge cables, tons and tons of back stage props so the obvious place to go next, is on set
CALLUM MCDOUGAL Executive Producer
We’re shooting a scene with Bond and Mathis, it’s ideal because it saves us actually having to build the interior of an airline. We’ve got the new Upper Class which looks fantastic
PAUL CHARLES Director of Communications
It’s something you dream about whether as a person or as a brand, actually being in a Bond movie is a great thing because it’s one of those franchises that everybody knows worldwide and that’s why Virgin loves having the Bond crew in here because we can actually show people that we’re a global brand, we live in a global movie franchise like Bond and so we’ll do anything to make sure they get their filming wrapped up in our Upper Class suite as quickly and easily as possible.
So here we are on the Bond 22 set. In fact, it’s an Upper Class cabin, real life Virgin Atlantic suite, complete with pillow, socks, even the duvets and crucially, the bar. Surely the best place to end up at the end of a day’s filming. Cheers.
(voice over)
A few days later, the Bond team were back on board Virgin Atlantic flying to Panama, the first time the airline’s landed there. The country made the perfect setting for key scenes in QUANTUM OF SOLACE.
CAPTION: Panama
MARC FORSTER Director
We’re in Panama City right now and Panama really has a diversity of locations and looks which are really useful for us
GEMMA ARTERTON Fields
It’s great working on the streets of Panama because you get a sense of what the real Panama City’s like. It’s got so much like life and character
MARC FORSTER Director
There’s also the party which will be shot here. It’s sort of a ruin I found here that I really fell in love with
CAPTION: October - 2007 Panama Location Scout
MICHAEL G WILSON Producer
Hopefully this will look a lot better than it does today
GEMMA ARTERTON Fields
It’s a really brilliant place, I think it’s a place that in particular was the old Union Club where all the rich people used to come, party and now it’s like an old shell and we’ve revamped it
OLGA KURYLENKO Camille
I think this set is beautiful, it’s stunning I really love it. Finally the real fun is starting
